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Janet Jackson, siblings: We are not after Michael's money

August 5, 2012 | 8:49
am

Janet Jackson and two of her siblings issued a statement strongly denying that they are trying to benefit financially from their late brother Michael's estate.

A statement issued Friday on behalf of Janet Jackson, her brother Randy and sister Rebbie accused the executors of trying to divide the family and distract from questions about the legitimacy of Michael Jackson’s will.

In the statement, Blair G. Brown, a Washington attorney for Janet Jackson, disputed reports that the siblings were trying to enlist their mother in a battle over the will for their own financial benefit.

“They stand to gain nothing financially by a finding that the will is invalid,” Brown wrote. “What will be gained ... is that the executors will be replaced and the estate and the guardianship will be managed in a manner that is in the best interest of the children, which is what Michael wanted."

Allegations that the siblings were holding their 82-year-old mother against her will in Arizona made international headlines last week and resulted in a new custody arrangement in which the family matriarch shares guardianship of Michael Jackson’s three children.

The 2002 will accepted by a probate judge after Michael Jackson’s death three years ago gave music industry veterans John Branca and John McClain control of an estate with an estimated worth of $1 billion.

The court-approved compensation plan gives the executors a 10% cut of some earnings.

The siblings have said the will was faked and cited evidence that Michael Jackson was out of town on the day the will indicates he signed the document in Los Angeles.

A spokesman for the estate said Friday evening that the legal window for challenging the will has closed, but that two prior wills also named Branca executor and gave no power to Jackson’s siblings.

In his statement, Brown accused the executors of barring the three siblings from visiting their mother at the Calabasas home where she lives with her grandchildren.

"The effect ... not only is to damage fundamental family relationships, it is also to isolate Katherine Jackson from anyone questioning the validity of the will,” Brown wrote.

The executors’ spokesman said Katherine Jackson and the children’s newly appointed co-guardian, Tito Joe “T.J.” Jackson, have the final say in who is allowed at the residence.